both parties head to the white house today to discuss the fiscal cliff with the president. it's at 3:00 p.m. eastern in the oval office. senate in recess until 2:00 p.m. eastern when the senate reconveneses, live coverage here on c-span2. >>> and right now on c-span2 a conversation with nebraska senator ben nelson who is retiring after two terms. >>> retiring senator nebraska ben tell me sop. years that began with the 2003 recount and reended with re-election of president obama. if you could think of the adjective to describe these years what would it be? >> clearly interesting. challenging. sometimes totally frustrating. but also full of opportunities for the country. there was some good times during the twelve years laced together with some that weren't so good. 9/11, the anthrax scare. there were positive things as well, the election of president obama, i thought it was a positive statement for the country and moving forward in a way that we have tried to move forward out of face -- fiscal as by now we came out of a fiscal as by during the times. it's a hodgepodge during